Kingsbury says he 'didn't get many specifics' for why Mayfield left program

Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury says he had no indication that Baker Mayfield was disenchanted until shortly before the freshman quarterback left the team this week to pursue a transfer.

“I didn’t get many specifics for why he was leaving,” Kingsbury said Friday during a post-practice session with the media. “I just knew that he wanted to leave. We wanted him here. He knows that. He knows how I feel about him. But if he feels (leaving) is the best thing for him, then that’s what he needed to do.”

Mayfield started seven games this season for a 7-5 team, throwing for 2,315 yards and 12 touchdowns. He left the team Wednesday, telling media outlets in his hometown of Austin that he will seek a transfer.

There were no reports of Mayfield being unhappy until late Tuesday, and Kingsbury said Wednesday was the first he was aware of it.

Mayfield cited “miscommunication” with the coaching staff as a reason for his departure, which Kingsbury on Friday said “was news to me.”

“I couldn’t be a bigger fan of Baker Mayfield and will cheer him on wherever he ends up,” Kingsbury said, “and am proud of what he accomplished, winning Big 12 freshman of the year. That’s something that’s great for the entire program.”

Mayfield spent this season as a walk-on, but Kingsbury said the former Lake Travis standout was going to be put on scholarship.

Asked how the team took Mayfield’s leaving, Kingsbury said, “They’re a resilient group. Everybody liked Baker. Coaches liked Baker. But if he felt there was a better situation elsewhere, that’s what he needed to do.”

The departures of Mayfield and Clayton Nicholas, a redshirt freshman who had not been in the mix for playing time, leaves Tech with only Michael Brewer and Davis Webb as scholarship quarterbacks.

The Red Raiders are in position to add a third on national signing day, having a commitment from Whitehouse standout Patrick Mahomes.

Kingsbury said he will not look to add a second quarterback for the upcoming signing class.

“You’d like to have five (quarterbacks on scholarship),” Kingsbury said. “That’s the ideal number for what we do. But we’re happy with where we’re at, and we’ve done it with three before.”

The Red Raiders are getting ready to play No. 16 Arizona State (10-3) in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30 in San Diego, Calif. It’s unclear at the moment who would be an emergency, third-string quarterback behind Brewer and Webb.

Tech coaches took former Randall quarterback Collin Bowen as a preferred walk-on in the summer, but Bowen was moved to outside linebacker at midseason.

Kingsbury said he hasn’t decided whether Brewer or Webb will start against the Sun Devils. Mayfield started the first five games of the season, Webb the next five and Mayfield the last two.

Brewer played sparingly this season, largely because he suffered a back injury in the summer. Kingsbury has said he didn’t have time on a week-to-week basis in practice to get Brewer game ready, at least not to the extent that Mayfield and Webb already were prepared.

In the last two games, losses to Baylor and Texas, Brewer played and Webb didn’t. Kingsbury said that should not be taken as an indication that Webb had dropped to third on the depth chart.

“I thought he played great, and he didn’t drop back to third,” Kingsbury said. “We put Mike in to get him some reps and see where he’s at, really, after coming off that injury and that was late in game situations and we thought he could get some good reps.

“They’ve all completed great, all three of them throughout, and now we’re down to two and we’ll see how it shakes out moving forward.”